San Jose: Abrahamic Alliance International promotes interfaith understanding, service

(Photo courtesy Abrahamic Alliance Intl/June 29, 2013)
Forty Muslims and Christians united to serve 250 meals to residents of Cityteam Men's Recovery Center and to the homeless of San Jose on June 29, 2013. Orientation and meal preparation was hosted at Lincoln Glen Church. Christian and Muslim volunteers were gathered into buddy groups and got acquainted discussing fun questions about fond childhood memories, favorite holidays, and faith heroes. After Muslim volunteers from Pacifica Institute of Silicon Valley recited prayers, buddy groups then worked together to prepare halal chicken, green salad, rice, watermelon, fresh-squeezed lemonade, and revani, a wonderful Turkish dessert. Before serving the meal at Cityteam, both Pastor Larry Albright and Mr. Oktay Erbil of Pacifica Institute thanked God in prayer for the food, then prayed God's blessing upon all residents and guests. After guests had eaten, volunteers also enjoyed a meal together. Service ended with a beautiful prayer offered by Mr. Oktay Erbil who thanked God for the privilege of serving our neighbors together, for new friendships made, and for the peace all enjoyed as we united to serve God and neighbor.

Side by side and shoulder to shoulder, Christian, Muslim and Jewish participants in San Jose-based Abrahamic Alliance International are called together for two main causes--serving the poor and hungry and taking time to learn about one another.

Rod Cardoza, founder of Abrahamic Alliance, said that "people come as strangers" to the interfaith fellowship events sponsored by the the alliance but leave as neighbors. A unique feature of the group are the seminars that are mandatory before joining in the community service events.

These educational "Loving Neighbors" seminars are held at houses of worship throughout the Bay Area. Two local churches involved so far are Lincoln Glen Church in Willow Glen and Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos. There are plans for seminars and events to be held in other countries such as Canada and Nairobi.

"We need education at the grassroots level," said Cordoza, a practicing Christian. "We are looking for brave churches, brave synagogues, brave mosques. We attract people of peace who are willing to give."

Filling a need

Abrahamic Alliance International was born in 2008 from a need to create relationships across the faiths, Cardoza said, and is based on ideas found in each faith's sacred text, such as love, peace and kindness.

While living in Egypt during the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, Cardoza was inspired to help people of different faith groups better understand one another's views and traditions and possibly dispel preconceived notions.

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"Many people are getting their views of each other through media," he said. "The masses are ignorant of each other. If we don't have friendships with each other, that's where stereotypes come in."

Learning about others

The seminars, he said, are the first step to giving people an opportunity to ask those questions they might be nervous or afraid to ask--or that might sound offensive.

"At the seminar level it's monofaith, so people can learn about other faiths in a safe environment," he said. "You get a healthy introduction." A leader of one faith community will speak, and teach its members about other religiions in a space they can feel comfortable in.

Cardoza said that the teachers for these gatherings are not only familiar with their own religion but are able to use their sacred text as a teaching tool.

"Our instructors need to be people who know how to teach about others through their sacred text," he said, adding that the doors to understanding open when "we can humble ourselves and be a learner."

Once people have completed seminars about the other religions involved, Cardoza said, the hope is that they will have a better understanding of other faiths' practices and needs within the community.

Aziz Baameur, a member of the South Valley Islamic Community, a mosque in San Martin, said that he had many Jewish friends while growing up and his wife is Christian. Regarding his attendance at a seminar, he didn't necessarily discover something about other religions but rather was reassured that people wanted to work together toward the goal of helping the less fortunate, despite any differences.

"What was exciting was the notion that people would congregate around those actions" of giving, he said, noting that he was glad to see people trying to learn about each other.

"After 9/11, there were a lot of thoughts that crept into the psyche," he said, and he found it refreshing to see people willing to come together in peace.

Louder than words

Graduates of the seminars then come together, face to face, to serve the needy, Cardoza said. The goals are to serve a good meal, do it together, get to know each other and have a good time.

Service events have been held at CityTeam Ministries and Inn-Vision Shelter Network in San Jose, as well as St. Joseph's Family Center in Gilroy. So far about 18 such gatherings have been held in the Bay Area, as well as four in Arizona.

The events begin with a 30-minute meet and greet, then participants are paired up to begin cooking a meal. Diversity is acknowledged and embraced at the event, according to Cardoza.

"Every event is like a UN conference," he said.

Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald of Sinai Synagogue in Willow Glen has participated in two Abrahamic Alliance meal events so far.

"We tend to dwell on differences instead of commonalities," he said, although "the desire to serve others is something that unites all of us." He added that by doing events such as these, people can learn to not only tolerate but to respect those differences.

Food is prepared to the religious specifications of the volunteers, meaning kosher or halal practices are observed.

Finally, when the food is on the table, the group of about 40 will sit down with the individuals they have served. One of the faith leaders generally leads a meal prayer.

Baameur said that this part of the gathering really brings people together.

"When it's done across faiths and across languages, there's a resonance to it," he said. "It is strange but familiar. We are all Abrahamic faiths."

A movement

Cardoza said more religious leaders and members are looking to interfaith activities, even though the idea is still "kind of controversial." He said some believe it's not wise to engage in interfatith events.

"We want people to sweat together, not just talk," he said. "It's pretty amazing what kinds of threads are between us."

Berkenwald said that because Sinai is a smaller synagogue, representing about 200 households, it has been difficult so far to initiate interfaith activity with the kind of scope the Abrahamic Alliance envisions.

"Our synagogue is committed to social action and we have a history of serving the poor," he said. "We didn't have a lot of experience with interfaith work. It's been nice to combine those two elements."

Anyone can register for a seminar hosted at a center of their own faith and take the first step toward participating in service events, Cardoza said. There are plans in the works for two fall meal events.

"If most Jews, Muslims and Christians were together serving the poor regularly, maybe these events wouldn't be so powerful," he said.